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Low ferritin

OnePlusThree profile image
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hi just to give a brief background, i have suffered from several terrible symptoms since my son was born 20 months ago. he is the youngest of 4 children i have had in 6 years.

i have been back and forth to the doctors to no avail. i also had a missed miscarriage in march of this year where i bled a lot and ended up with a D&C. to cut a very long story short, i had bloods taken last week which revealed the following

haemoglobin: 10.9 g/dl

haematocrit: 34%

red cell count 4.0 M/cmm

Ferritin in serum: 9.7ng/mL

My ferritin in Nov of 2017 was at 22.

My recent blood tests showed

Vitamin b12 606 pg/ml

Folate: >20 ng/mL

My question is, is it likely that i am iron deficient based on the results above or do i need further testing?

Is it likely that due to back to back pregnancies and breastfeeding, my iron stores are depleted and this is the cause of the anemia.

Is it possible to have sufficient b12 and folate, but be low in iron?

Is it likely that the bleeding at the time of the miscarriage has further worsened the anemia?

What is the quickest way to get my iron stores up? online information is confusing. my doctors marked this as mild anemia but my heart palpitations and shortness of breath in particular lead me to believe its not mild.

I am trying not to be too anxious about the results but am finding it difficult.

Thank you in advance x

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JMN2017 profile image
JMN2017

Haemoglobin: 10.9 g/d / Ferritin in serum: 9.7ng/mLl

Although your GP suggests this Haemaglobin is 'fine', I doubt he would be feeling OK to work if it was his Hb result ;) Also, your Ferritin appears low although, without the normal range, this is only assuming.

'Normal Range' can differ in different Path Labs, due to different machinery used as well as other factors.

I would think with your Hb at that level, you are likely to respond well with some Iron supplement. It would be worth going back to the GP and ask for Iron tablets or, at least monitoring while you take some.

I'm not sure if high Folate is any issue. Mine is also >20 on a recent test (haven't got the units and normal range to hand, I'm afraid) ;) So you're not alone on that one.

You mention "several terrible symptoms" but you haven't explained what they are, which could give us a clue, helping us to give you appropriate advice.

Did you have 'Gas & Air' during your labour/delivery? If so, this could be a reason for you having issues but, as I'm just mentioned, it would be very useful to know more details, please.

Also, please bear in mind, I'm not a medically qualified person so can't tell you what you must do. I don't think there are any medically qualified persons here but we can help, based on a lot of research, learning and experiences.

Once you've posted more details, I'm sure you'll get some very good responses from some of the particularly knowledgeable persons on here :)

I had a bout of serious anaemia, when my hb was 6 and ferritin 3 (not really clear about the cause) but I had two blood transfusions and months of iron tablets. My hb count needed to be up to 12-13., but my GP wanted my ferritin count up to 100, as that indicates your iron storage levels. I am not a medical person, but it would make sense that your miscarriage, and pregnancies would have something to do with it. The blood transfusions bumped me up to 9, which seemed enough for me then to have 3 ferrous sulfate tablets per day for 8 mths.

I hope you feel better soon

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